Labour Deputy leader Tom Watson has said his former colleague Luciana Berger was driven out of the party by "racist bullies".

Mr Watson said there was now a "brutality" in the Labour Party.

And he said that while only a tiny proportion of the membership was responsible, some "new members" were "harsh and bullying in their ways"

Mr Watson, Labour MP for West Bromwich East, made the comments as he hosted a phone-in show for radio station LBC.

It came after seven former Labour MPs including Ms Berger, who represents a Liverpool seat, announced on Monday that they were leaving the party to form a new Independent Group in the House of Commons.

Labour MP Luciana Berger announces her resignation from the Labour Party at a press conference on February 18, 2019 in London

They have since been joined by an eighth Labour MP, Joan Ryan, and there are reports that some Conservatives could also join.

Ms Berger, who is Jewish, had been subjected to vicious racist trolling on social media, including by some people who claimed to be supporters of Labour leader Jeremy Corbyn.

Mr Watson was asked by a caller whether he would join The Independent Group.

He said: "I have been a member of the Labour Party since I was 15 years old. I love it as an institution.

"But I did say there are aspects of it that I don't recognise any more. The harshness, the brutality, the bullying.

"Yes, it's small numbers of people. We're a half million strong party. And the vast majority of those members are enthusiastic, they just want to live in a fairer country. That's why I joined all those years ago.

"But there are some new members, a tiny number, that I think are harsh and bullying in their ways.

"I felt shamed when Luciana Berger felt she had to leave. She was driven out by racist bullies. And that's completely unacceptable in any liberal democracy.

"But I still think that the Labour Party is the century-old vehicle that can change lives and give voice to ordinary working people whose voices are not heard by the powerful."

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Referring to the eight Labour MPs who have left, he added: "And that's why I'm so disappointed they've goine.

"And that's why I really want people to stay and fight their corner."

Mr Watson is one of a number of Labour MPs who urged Mr Corbyn to listen to the concerns of the MPs who left, and to make changes to ensure others don't follow them.

Labour leader Jeremy Corbyn during a speech at a Labour local government conference (Image: Aaron Chown/PA Wire)

Mr Corbyn responded to the resignations by saying on Tuesday: "I hope they recognise that they were elected to Parliament on a manifesto that was based around investment in the future, was based around a more equal and fairer society and based around social justice.

"They were elected to carry out those policies, they decided to go somewhere else and I regret that because I want our party to be strong, I want our party to be united around the policies that we have put forward."

Labour has now announced plans to change the law so that constituents have the power to "recall" their MPs - forcing them to stand again in a by-election - if they leave the party they were members of when they were elected.